Shear-comb

ABSTRACT

A Shear-Comb providing means by which a barber may more efficiently comb and subsequently cut a person&#39;&#39;s hair, comprising a pair of hair cutting shears having a still blade and shearing blade with a comb device attached to the still blade of the shears, the plane of said comb device forming a 90* angle with the plane of the still blade.

United States Patent [1 1 Applegate SHEAR-COMB [76] Inventor: George Douglas Jules Applegate,

9526 E. Harrison Circle, Tucson, Ariz. 85710 [22] Filed: Aug. 30, 1974 211 App]. No.: 502,179

[52] US. Cl. 30/2335; 7/6.l [51] Int. Cl. B26B 13/24 [58] Field of Search 30/2335, 30, 31; 7/6.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,726,390 8/1929 Erhard 7/6.!

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 296,901 9/1928 United Kingdom 7/6.]

[ Oct. 28, 1975 Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-J. C. Peters Attorney, Agent, or Firm-J. Michael McClanahan [5 7 ABSTRACT A Shear-Comb providing means by which a barber may more efficiently comb and subsequently cut a persons hair, comprising a pair of hair cutting shears having a still blade and shearing blade with a comb device attached to the still blade of the shears, the plane of said comb device forming a 90 angle with the plane of the still blade.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 r 3,914,866

. SHEAR-COMB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The customary practice for a barber cutting hair is to first use a comb to bring the hair to an upright position, grasp the hair held between the comb teeth between the first and second fingers of the left hand (for a right handed barber), dispose of the comb either by putting it down or holding it with the thumb of the left hand, and finally picking up the shears and cutting the tops off the hair held between the fingers. In this operation, obviously much time is lost in transferring the comb from one hand to the other (or putting it down) each time that it is desired to use the shears. It is this process of alternately transferring the comb from hand to hand that the instant invention is designed to eliminate.

There exists prior inventions where combs have been alternately combined with shears; however, they either fall into the class of being hair thinning shears or shears combined with the comb merely to provide the comb and shears in one device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a pair of hair shears having a comb operably attached, either by casting (or by other process) the comb and the shear blade as one piece during manufacture, or by attaching the comb and shear blade by adhesive means or mechanical fitting means, to the still blade of the shears, the plane of the comb being 90 to the plane of the still blade. The invention, i.e., shear comb, is grasped in the appropriate hand as one would hold a standard pair of hair shears. The comb is worked through the hair as is the normal practice and when it is desired to cut off the tops of the hair as it is being combed, the hair extending through the comb teeth portion of the shear comb is grasped between the first and second fingers of the free hand. The comb is then lifted free from the hair, and the shear comb positioned so that the comb is laid upon the top of the first finger holding hair. The preferred embodiment shows that the still blade of the shear comb conforms generally to the shape of a barbers finger, i.e., the steel blade having approximately the same width from shank to point and with said width approximating the thickness of the first finger, thus the hair and the shear comb are held steady relative to one another and the hair is out where desired giving a more true cut.

The advantage of having the plane of the comb 90 from the plane of the still blade is thus shown as more stable means for holding the shear comb in place against the first finger holding the hair when cutting the hair and giving a more uniform cut.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pair of hair shears operably combined with comb to facilitate and make more efficient a barbers work.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide means by which a pair of hair shears and a comb may be combined into a single device for use by barbers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view schematic diagram of the shear comb.

FIG. 2 is a side view schematic diagram of the shear comb.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION posite cutting edge 16 of still blade 12. The plane of comb 14 is relative to the plane of the still blade 12. It is to be noted that the comb may be cast in place when the shears are made.

Cutting edges 16 of the still blade 12 and 17 of the moving blade 13 provide the hair cutting action of the shears. To the blade portions of the shears, l2 and 13, are connected the shank portions of the shears, 25 and 24 respectively. The shank portions 24 and 25 operably connect to annular rings forming finger openings 19 and 20.

Teeth 18 of comb 14 are shown pointing out of the plane of the drawing.

FIG. 1 illustrates the shear comb for a right handed barber wherein the right hand thumb is placed through opening 19, the second finger inserted through opening 20, the third finger nesting in arcuate shaped finger brace 21, and the right hand first finger resting at the neck 22 of the shank 25 of still blade 12. The shear blades are pivoted about pivot point 23 located in the shank portions of the shears proximate the blades 12 and 13.

The Shear-Comb is held as indicated above which permits the combing and positioning of the hair prior to cutting. When it is desired to cut the hair, the hair between the teeth 18 of the comb portion 14 is grasped by the first and second fingers of the left hand. The Shear-Comb is lifted free of the hair, rotated, the still blade 12 held against the left hand first finger and the hair cut. The general conformance of the shape of the still blade in the preferred embodiment to that of the left hand still blade permits the hair to be cut directly upon its exit from between the first and second fingers rather than cutting the hair where the blade happens to be, i.e., a means is supplied permitting the cut of the hair to immediate adjacent to the first-second finger junction.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the Shear-Comb ll further illustrating the 90 angle between the plane of the comb l4 and the plane of the shear comb 11.

The preferred embodiment of the Shear Comb is as illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the still blade 12 generally conforms to the left hand first finger of the barber.

Other embodiments of the invention include having the still blade width and shape conforming generally to the triangular type blade of the moving blade.

While a preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure but, rather, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shear comb for alternately combing and cutting a persons hair comprising shears having two blades with a cutting edge associated with each blade, the first of said blades having a shank portion operably connected thereto with at least one annular finger ring formed in said shank distal to said blade, the second of said blade operably connected to a shank portion with at least one annular finger opening formed in said cut.

2. The shear comb as defined in claim 1 further providing that width of the second cutting blade conforms to the thickness of a first finger.

3. The shear-comb as defined in claim 1 further providing that the teeth of said combv extend upwards towards said first blade. 

1. A shear comb for alternately combing and cutting a person''s hair comprising shears having two blades with a cutting edge associated with each blade, the first of said blades having a shank portion operably connected thereto with at least one annular finger ring formed in said shank distal to said blade, the second of said blade operably connected to a shank portion with at least one annular finger opening formed in said shank portion distal to said cutting edge and a finger brace connected thereto, said first and second blade pivoting about a common shaft through both said shank portions, and a comb fixedly attached to said second of said blades opposite said second blade cutting edge, the plane of said comb being 90* to the plane of said second blade, whereby said comb combs a person''s hair, the hair grasped, the comb lifted free of said hair, rotated and placed upon the barber''s finger, and the hair cut.
 2. The shear comb as defined in claim 1 further providing that width of the second cutting blade conforms to the thickness of a first finger.
 3. The shear-comb as defined in claim 1 further providing that the teeth of said comb extend upwards towardS said first blade. 